Golden Days of August in Marienberg – harvest, beauty, and tips for the urban garden

August shows the Marienberg community garden at its lushest. Cucumbers and tomatoes ripen side by side, late blooms open, and the fresh greenery calls gardeners back every week.

“Gardening has so many positive effects on people – being outside in the sun provides essential vitamin D, relieves stress, brings satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment. Even though I always have to go there either by bike or by car, gardening has definitely helped reduce anxiety and lifted my mood,” says Mari Sarapuu, an active gardener at the Marienberg community garden and author of the Instagram account Tervisemari. She spent much of her childhood in the countryside, growing onions, garlic, herbs, pumpkins, and cucumbers together with her grandmother.

This August she is waiting for her green “tomato forest” to turn red – from just four tomato plants she expects a good crop, as the plants have grown vigorously in her raised bed.

The community garden, established by Metro, is located in the heart of the future Marienberg city park and marks the first step in fostering biodiversity and a sense of community in the area. Here, people from different backgrounds come together to share experiences, learn, and simply enjoy being together.

Marienberg community garden coordinator Herdis Pärn and experienced urban gardener Mari Sarapuu share some tips on what garden tasks are essential in August – and what can still be sown into the soil. Autumn always depends on the weather, of course, but it’s worth experimenting.

Tasks for the urban garden in August:

• Harvest regularly – cucumbers, courgettes, tomatoes, and beans ripen in waves. Picking encourages new fruits.
• Pinch out the tops of tall tomato plants and remove leaves around the clusters so the sun can reach the fruit and the plant directs its energy into ripening.
• Limit the number of pumpkins per plant to 3–4 for better quality.
• From early August, start applying autumn fertilizer to prepare plants for winter.
• Weed the beds and keep slugs under control – in an urban garden, every patch of soil is precious.
• Turn the compost and add an accelerator so autumn leaves and plant matter break down faster.
• If plants have grown very large, add extra support (for example, bamboo canes from a hardware store) and make sure all plants still get enough light.

What you can still sow in August:

August isn’t only harvest time – there’s always room for a quick new sowing in an urban garden. Beds freed after harvesting garlic or early potatoes are perfect for fast autumn crops:

• radish (including daikon and Korean radish);
• lettuce and arugula;
• lamb’s lettuce – for autumn harvest and overwintering;
• pak choi – grows quickly and tolerates cool weather;
• spinach – gives several cuts before frost;
• peas – choose an early variety for shoots or an early harvest;
• dill – sow every couple of weeks.

The community garden as a meeting place

The Marienberg community garden has become a place not only for work but also for dropping by and chatting. Some come to check their raised bed, others pick herbs for dinner, and still others bring their child to taste a strawberry straight from the stem.

“The Marienberg community garden is still small – we are only in our first year – but it already gives a glimpse of what the future Marienberg city park might be like: green, diverse, and human,” says community lead Herdis Pärn.

The creation of the Marienberg community garden is supported by the Tallinn Environment and Public Works Department.